Prostitution arrests on Queens' Roosevelt Avenue plunged nearly 60 percent this year as street solicitation thrives under Mayor Mamdani, critics blame weaker enforcement from City Hall.
NYPD officers made just 193 prostitution-related arrests along Roosevelt Avenue through Sept. 13 this year, down from 468 in the same stretch of the prior year. That is a drop of roughly 60 percent on the Queens corridor long known for open solicitation through Jackson Heights and Corona.
The New York Post reported the collapse in arrests even as street activity remains plain to anyone walking the strip. A reporter who visited near 90th Street last week spotted nine Asian women turning tricks while two others acted as hostesses or managers.
The same stretch runs roughly two miles. Customers still get steered upstairs or into nearby buildings. Prices stay low. And local voices say the police posture changed after Zohran Mamdani took office this year.
Former state Sen. Hiram Monserrate, now a local Democratic district leader in the area, did not mince words about what he is seeing.
Monserrate said illegal prostitution and sex-trafficking markets have flourished since Mamdani became mayor.
"It is becoming apparent that there is less enforcement, and I think that comes from the top."
He went further on the results for the neighborhoods he represents.
"The current formula is not working to keep our community safe. It's a disaster. The problem has gotten worse, and this administration has done nothing to correct it."
Mamdani, before winning City Hall, was a passionate supporter of decriminalizing prostitution. That record now sits next to a corridor where arrests fell hard while the street trade did not.
A 40-year-old Manhattan man who gave only the name John described the strip as simple business. Negotiating a tryst is "super easy," he said.
"I can get it done for $60 to $80."
In Manhattan, he said, the same transaction runs $200 to $300. On Roosevelt Avenue he finds Chinese women charging $60 for sex and $40 for oral sex, with sex without a condom available for $100 or more. Latinas cost more, he said, and watch the clock harder. Chinese women give about 30 minutes.
John said the women know the legal climate.
"The police are always around, but it seems like there's nothing they can do."
He added that many come from other states and tell him New York laws are lax. When he gets bored, he heads to Flushing.
During the reporter's visit, an Ecuadorian woman offered "massages" using "three positions" for $100 over 20 minutes, including $50 to rent a room. A second woman offered an hour for $300, she said the normal window was 15 minutes, or half an hour for $150 with four positions.
Arrests have not stopped entirely. John Maddox, 52, was arrested July 29 on Roosevelt Avenue near 98th Street for allegedly offering an undercover officer $20 for sex. He was charged with patronizing prostitution, pleaded not guilty, and has 12 prior arrests, including a 2024 case for criminal sale of drugs, according to police sources.
Mario Sanchez, 31, was busted June 11 near 80th Street after allegedly offering an undercover $100 for sex. He faces the same charge, pleaded not guilty, and has five prior arrests.
Patronizing prostitution carries up to a year in prison. An unnamed city government official described the larger pattern in blunt terms.
"Restore, rinse, release, that's the problem with Roosevelt Avenue."
The same official added that officers catch johns and put them away, only to see them return.
"The cops catch these johns and put them away, but they pop up like whack-a-mole. Enough is enough. Someone needs to shut it down."
Albany repealed the state statute that barred loitering for the purpose of prostitution in February 2021. After that repeal, officers shifted focus toward traffickers, pimps, and johns.
In the comparable period a year earlier, Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch ran "Operation Restore Roosevelt." Arrest numbers then were far higher. Major crimes such as murders and shootings along the corridor are down 3 percent in the current tally, a thin bright spot next to the prostitution numbers.
An unnamed New York City women's advocate said Tisch still wants order on the strip, but the political cover looks thinner now.
"I think the police commissioner is pretty committed to keeping things in check there, but I know that she probably doesn't have the backing of the mayor the way she has under other administrations."
City Hall spokesman Sam Raskin framed the administration's stance as a mix of enforcement and social services.
"Our approach must therefore pair enforcement with the support and opportunity that help people build safer, more stable lives."
A Mamdani representative said the mayor is committed to partnering with local organizations and neighborhood residents to address conditions on Roosevelt Avenue, is using every tool available to the city, and is treating victims and survivors with care and dignity.
Residents and a former lawmaker say the street reality does not match the talking points. Arrests are down by hundreds. Solicitation remains visible in daylight. Customers describe short waits, low prices, and little fear of lasting consequences. The johns who do get booked plead out or plead not guilty and reappear in the same market.
Roosevelt Avenue did not invent street prostitution. What changed is the volume of enforcement after a mayor who once championed decriminalization took the keys to the city. When the arrest ledger falls by nearly 60 percent and the sidewalk trade stays open, neighborhoods notice, and they are saying so out loud.
Soft enforcement invites hard problems. Queens families should not have to live next to an open market for paid sex while City Hall talks about dignity and partnership.
